Perhaps the most exhilarating feeling for football fans is when your team bags a late goal to snatch the victory right at the death.
And the Premier League has proven time and again that, as the planet’s most exciting division, it is never shy of goalscoring drama.
Daily Mail sport, in collaboration with Opta, looks at which Premier League legends have had the most game-winning goals and assists, per minute. So, who are the top 10 match-winners in the league’s history?
10. Sergio Aguero
57 total winning goals/assists. 348 minutes per winning goals/assists.
First up on the list is the man with arguably the most famous winning moment in footballing history, Manchester City‘s Sergio Aguero.
Many may be surprised that Aguero is only 10th on this list considering his outrageous goalscoring record and knack for turning up in big moments during his decade in England. Aguero is held back by a small number of game winning assists (nine) but unsurprisingly has the third-most game winning goals on this list (48).
His most famous of which of course came on the final day of the 2011-12 Premier League season where he won Manchester City the league against QPR. We all know the story and how special his 94th minute strike was, regarded by many as the most iconic goal in Premier League history. And one now that has plenty of debate following the bombshell guilty verdict against Manchester City.
After hitting this famous strike in his first season, the Argentine only got better during his time in England becoming an absolute menace for the rest of the league.
The striker grabbed winners against City’s title-chasing rivals, scoring the decider in three Manchester derbies.
Aguero dominated games with his goals and often scored the winner early on. He holds the record for most Premier League hat-tricks with 12 and even managed more than three goals in 90 minutes on three separate occasions.
Sergio Aguero owns perhaps the most memorable match-winning moment in Premier League history
9. Robin van Persie
58 total winning goals/assists. 347 minutes per winning goals/assists
Ninth on the list is the Flying Dutchman, narrowly beating Aguero.
Enjoying an eleven-year spell in England with two of the best sides in the top-flight, Van Persie was unstoppable at both Arsenal and Manchester United winning back-to-back Golden Boots with the two clubs.
Van Persie notched 144 goals in the Premier League all told with some absolute screamers in that impressive haul and 42 were winners. One famous goal early on in the Dutchman’s career that matched both criteria was an outrageous first-time volley away at Charlton in the 2006-07 season.
The one-time Premier League winner kept his ability to come up with the deciding goals well into the latter stages of his Premier League career as well. Famously scoring all three goals in a 3-0 win over Aston Villa to deliver Manchester United the 2012-13 title at the end of his first year at Old Trafford, with the second a sublime finish.
He also provided a respectable 16 game-winning assists from his fruitful partnerships with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott and Emmanuel Adebayor… to name a few.
Robin van Persie scored 26 goals in his first season at Manchester United
8. Kevin De Bruyne
62 total winning goals/assists. 346 minutes per winning goals/assists
Once again there is not much in it but slotting in at number eight on the list is the assist king himself, Kevin De Bruyne.
Once labelled a Chelsea flop De Bruyne became unplayable for a number of years during his time in Manchester.
Like many others on this list the Belgian’s heroic moments came in the nail-biting stages title races and rivalries. Barely a year after returning to England he came back to Stamford Bridge facing a Chelsea team defending their crown and early in the second half lashed in a thunderbolt from the edge of the area to win the game 1-0 and shift the tide of the entire title race, a race that City would end up winning.
More recently De Bruyne has provided the Cityzens with some of their most pulsating Premier League moments, always delivering in the run-in to decide the crucial games. On the final day of the 2021-22 season City were down 2-0 to Aston Villa and set to lose the title but then De Bruyne turned on the heat and after City levelled the score the Belgian provided a wonderful assist for Ilkay Gundogan to claim the title with 10 minutes to go.
As soon as the next season the Belgian was up to the same tricks against new rivals Arsenal. In a title six-pointer just before the penultimate game of the season City had to beat Arsenal to all but confirm their title and De Bruyne simply ran the show.
He got the opener and assisted the next two in a 4-1 rout bringing another title to the Etihad. The list of these instances could go on and on, De Bruyne’s quality was unquestionable and his love for the big moments often unbelievable.
To many Kevin De Bruyne is Man City’s greatest ever player, winning six Premier Leagues in a decade with the club
7. Olivier Giroud
43 total winning goals/assists. 336 minutes per winning goals/assists
Next to follow is an inclusion that may surprise a few being the only man on the list to have never lifted the Premier League trophy, but his record is undeniable.
The Frenchman endured periods out of favour and under serious fire during his time in the Premier League but always managed to score consistently amid criticism and remains one of the most underrated players of the modern era.
Giroud joined Arsenal in 2012 and was something of a showman from the start specialising in classy finishes, and some of his most impressive showstoppers were also vital goals. His most memorable finish was a sensational scorpion kick opener in a 2-0 Arsenal win over Crystal Palace.
Giroud won three FA Cups with the Gunners before travelling west to join rivals Chelsea in January of 2018 where he found even more success in front of goal. He scored some massive goals for the Blues in the 2019-20 Covid-hit season, scoring the winner in three separate games against Norwich, Wolves and Watford to help his team qualify for the Champions League.
Even after leaving the Premier League over five years ago now Giroud still remains one of the most underappreciated players to play in England
6. Dennis Bergkamp
64 total winning games/assists. 331 minutes per winning games/assists
The third Arsenal player to join the list is a man who helped define the Gunners’ greatest period of success winning 10 major titles in his time at Highbury.
Dennis Bergkamp is up there with some of the most-technically gifted footballers to ever play in England and he was able to translate his gift into goals, assists and ultimately victories.
The Dutchman’s greatest ever Premier League goal combined his elegance and clinical finishing excellently to provide a moment that is still spoken about today. Away at Newcastle in 2002, Bergkamp executed the most audacious first touch to beat his man even with his back to him, held him off and caressed the ball into the far corner. It remains one of the Premier League’s greatest moments.
But goal scoring was not the focal point of Bergkamp’s game, he was a provider by nature. With 94 he has the sixth-most assists in Premier League history, 34 of which were for winning goals, he truly epitomised reliability on the pitch especially in big moments.
He is often regarded as one of the best players to play with by a number of former team-mates, even Thierry Henry who played with the likes of Lionel Messi said: ‘Dennis will remain the best partner I ever had.’
Dennis Bergkamp was the ultimate gamechanger often only needing half a yard and half a chance to win the game
5. Mohamed Salah
84 total winning games/assists. 319 Minutes per winning games/assists
Coming in at the halfway point is the player with the most Premier league goals in this list.
It will come to nobody’s surprise that Mohamed Salah has a place in the top 10 in fact most would have presumed he would be higher up, but he still makes the top five.
Ever since rejoining the league after a failed period at Chelsea similarly to Kevin De Bruyne, he has been unstoppable, winning a record three PFA Player of the Year awards and lighting up every stadium in the league along the way.
In his first season Salah set the then record for most goals in a Premier League season (34), most notably getting the winner in a historic 4-3 win over would be champions Manchester City.
He was so pivotal for Liverpool and it’s no surprise he produced 57 winning goals and 27 winning assists.
Leaving the Premier League only last year Mohamed Salah leaves behind a legacy at Anfield that will be near impossible to beat
4. Didier Drogba
58 total winning games/assists. 303 minutes per winning goals/assists
At number four is the ultimate big game player. Didier Drogba remained such a threat in the Premier League due to his ability to score in any way from anywhere. Most might remember the famous headers and poachers goals but the big man had all sorts up his sleeve.
Among some of his best showstoppers is an admirably devastating half-volley Drogba scored to get the only goal in a home victory over Liverpool in 2006. In barely five seconds it encapsulates everything the striker was about: control, strength, ruthless finishing and crucially winning games. Another instance of Drogba’s long-range efforts making the difference was later in the same season away at Goodison Park, with the score level at 2-2 with three minutes to go he controlled the ball out the sky and fired a missile into the top corner winning the game for the Blues.
Like many others on the list the Ivorian racked up a surprisingly large amount of game winning assists (25) as well as 33 game-winning goals during his time at Stamford Bridge. No doubt a good number of these coming as a result of his lethal partnership with Frank Lampard, the Englishman’s positional nous alongside Drogba’s strength and hold up play were so often too much to handle for opposition defences.
Didier Drogba is a true Chelsea great scoring 104 Premier League goals and lifting the title four times in 10 years in English football
3. Ruud van Nistelrooy
40 total winning goals/assists. 273 minutes per winning goals/assists
Incredibly, although he managed the least amount of winning goals and assists on this list Ruud van Nistelrooy makes the top three.
The Dutchman was only at Old Trafford for five years but was outrageously prolific throughout his entire spell scoring or assisting in over 70 per cent of his Premier League games.
He was an old school No 9 and rarely needed more than two touches to execute, and always seemed to step up when United needed it the most. A particularly sparkling performance from Van Nistelrooy came at home to Charlton in the penultimate game of the 2002-03 season when he bagged a 22-minute hat-trick in a 4-1 win. The striker’s first of the bunch was so typical of his playing style as while holding two defenders off, on the swivel he carefully touched the ball over the goalkeeper’s head to make it 2-1 and win the title for United.
Some may be shocked by Van Nistelrooy’s place in the list but for Premier League fans of a certain vintage this is an expected addition as at times in his relatively short stint in England he was unstoppable. Even Sir Alex Ferguson once said: ‘He was one of the most selfish (but) best finishers we’ve ever had at the club.’
Ruud van Nistelrooy may come as a surprise to some to be this high on the list but his numbers in the Premier League have always been unquestionable
2. Erling Haaland
42 total winning goals/assists. 273 minutes per winning goals/assists
Just missing out on the top spot is the Premier League’s current goal machine and perennial Golden Boot winner, Erling Haaland.
Since his arrival in 2022 he has held a monopoly on goalscoring, winning the Golden Boot three out of the four seasons and set a new record for the most goals scored in a Premier League season (36) in his very first campaign.
The Norwegian showed early on that his brute force and electric speed would be a devastating combination scoring nine in his first five league games. And has only kept scoring since then setting another record last season by becoming the player to join the Premier League 100 club in the fewest amount of games (111).
Haaland already has eight hat-tricks in the league and countless world class performances that have been seminal in Manchester City winning a Treble in his first year.
Erling Haaland is the only player in the top 10 to still be playing in the Premier League he is likely to take the number one spot in this category very soon
1. Thierry Henry
76 total winning goals/assists. 263 minutes per winning goals/assists
Who else?
Taking the No 1 spot is to many the Premier League’s greatest ever player, Thierry Henry. With a goal or assist every 94 minutes in the Premier League, excluding penalties, it was always going to be hard for anybody else to take the top spot in the ultimate match-winner list.
The only ever player to get both 20 goals and 20 assists in a single Premier League season he could win a game however he wished, so often producing something truly mesmerising while doing so and his best work would always seem to come against the fiercest opposition.
Arguably his most memorable Premier league goal came in the 2002 North London derby in which Henry lit up the Highbury turf by running nearly 80 yards with the ball right through the heart of the Spurs team before calmly stroking the ball into the far corner with his weak foot to open the scoring in a 3-0 win.
An unforgettable Henry winner came two years earlier at home to title rivals Manchester United in October of 2000. The Frenchman had a knack for grudge matches and settled this one in spectacular style as just 30 minutes into the game Henry received the ball with his back to goal and flicked it up hitting the ball flush on the volley into the far top corner.
These two goals are just the tip of a wonderous iceberg of winning goals and assists Henry got on the way to two Premier League titles and three FA Cups with Arsenal. The Frenchman also won four Premier League Golden Boots in just seven years at the club with three of them coming in consecutive seasons.
The most clutch player in Premier League history: Thierry Henry has yet another record to add to his list
